Michael Gove sacking ‘going down badly’ with Tory MPs as Boris ‘behaving like Putin’

Michael Gove's sacking went down 'badly' reveals expert

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Boris Johnson was seen by senior Conservative party colleagues as “our Putin” after sacking Michael Gove late on Wednesday as the increasingly isolated Prime Minister looked to take “revenge” against his former ally. The move to fire Mr Gove as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities went down “badly” with Conservative MPs, according to BBC Newsnight host Nicholas Watt. Mr Johnson went on to announce his resignation as Prime Minister on Thursday. 

Michael Gove’s sacking went down ‘badly’ reveals expert

Mr Watt told BBC Newsnight on Wednesday: “The sacking of Michael Gove is going down very badly in the Conservative Party.

“The view is that Michael Gove went to see Boris Johnson in private earlier today to advise him to go, sacked this evening and accused of being behaving like a snake.

“Now to the one person this is a senior figure in the Conservative Party who knows Boris Johnson very, very well, they told me that that sacking is revenge.

“Revenge for the way in which Michael Gove as Boris Johnson’s campaign manager in 2016, basically, kiboshed his first attempt to become conservative leader.

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“This person said look, Michael Gove is now a hugely significant cabinet minister, so sacking him shows that Boris Johnson is detached from reality.

“He is now our Putin I was told.”

It comes as Mr Johnson is facing growing calls from senior Tories to hand over to a caretaker prime minister rather than wait for a permanent successor to be elected.

Constitutional experts are clear Mr Johnson is entitled to remain in No 10 until a new party leader, who will be able to form a government, is in place.

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But with the leadership election expected to take weeks or even months, some Conservatives warned it is untenable for him to carry on for so long, given the acrimonious way in which he was forced to resign.

Meanwhile, Labour said it will seek a Commons vote of confidence if Mr Johnson does not go, which would mean a general election if the Government is defeated.

Former prime minister Sir John Major said it would be “unwise and may be unsustainable” to allow Mr Johnson to stay on for a prolonged period in which he would continue to be able to wield considerable power.

“Some will argue that his new Cabinet will restrain him. I merely note that his previous Cabinet did not – or could not – do so,” he said.

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In a letter to Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, Sir John suggested Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab could be installed as acting premier until there is a new leader.

Alternatively, he said, there could be a foreshortened leadership contest, with MPs electing the leader who would then become prime minister – with grassroots members then asked to endorse the result.

There were signs of Sir John’s misgivings being shared by some remaining members of the Cabinet.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng – who Mr Johnson had reportedly been planning to axe in his next reshuffle – said it is a “depressing state of affairs”.

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